Gwynn's death sparks dip debate

TRENTON — The death of San Diego Padres icon Tony Gwynn due to oral cancer Monday resonated across the baseball world — including the Thunder clubhouse.

In addition to being a person tragedy for the Gwynn family, the news also put a renewed focus on the use of chewing tobacco in baseball. Officially, tobacco in any form has been banned in the minor leagues since 1993. If caught with chewing tobacco on the field, players face a $300 fine, while managers are docked $1,000.

Away from the field, however, it is clear that some players continue to dip.

“There are so many guys that do it,” said catcher Tyson Blaser, who does not use chewing tobacco. “It’s very common in the major leagues, and even though obviously in the minor leagues you are not supposed to do it, some people don’t adhere to that. To see an icon like (Gwynn) lose his battle with cancer because of a habit a lot of people do, I assume it’d be eye opening to some people.”

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Gwynn, who was just 54, blamed his cancer on dipping tobacco.

Despite that, manager Tony Franklin conceded that while the coaching staff does its best to dissuade players from using, what they do on their own time is ultimately their own decision.

“We encourage them not to do it, but they are adults with choices to make,” Franklin said. “The choices they make could be very beneficial and save their lives, so we hope they make the right choices. I will always continue to encourage them not to (chew tobacco).”

Franklin, who spent 11 seasons as an infield instructor with the Padres, knows of what he speaks. A longtime smoker and chewer, he said he was motivated to quit in part due to peers who had biopsies come back positive.

“It was probably one of the hardest things that I’ve done,” Franklin said.

Pitching coach Tommy Phelps — who spent parts of three big league seasons with the Florida Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers — recalled a jarring experience during his first big league camp with the Montreal Expos in 1996 that kept him away from chew.

Bill Tuttle, a former major league outfielder who had lost half his jaw to cancer, visited the team to show them first hand the potential effects of chewing. Tuttle died two years later.

“Just seeing that happens makes it real for everybody, that you are not going to be young forever,” Phelps said. “It’s dangerous.”

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, an estimated 43,250 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year, and 8,000 will die.

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Broadcaster John Rodgers has left the Thunder Wednesday on his own accord.

Rodgers, 56, was hired at the end of April. Previously, he had worked for Iowa’s Cedar Rapids Kernals, the Low-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

About the Author

Former Trentonian sportswriter and utility man. New York Jets, Princeton basketball, Mercer/Bucks county high schools, Trenton Thunder. Tulane grad. Former Times-Picayune and NFL.com intern. Reach the author at nperuffo@trentonian.com
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